Thank you, for your fascinating story! I fully endorse the idea of alternative energy sources or renewable energy sources. May I suggest through your column to the government of India or the State Governments that every person retiring from service must be given a solar cooker free of cost along with his/her pension. If even 10 per cent of these people use it even for a day or two in a week, it would result in huge saving of fuel.
And of course solar batteries are the most important alternatives for rural areas and large buildings, and big hotels in cities. — Dr. P. Palit
Via Email
The government should have taken steps much earlier. I had installed solar water heater without any subsidy or even soft loan about 15 yrs back. But better late than never. — Digambar Gadgil
Via Email
Power is essential for our survival today. Best source of it is Solar, which will end only when our planet would end too. Thus action must be taken urgently at a massive scale to introduce this energy in each and every village. Only this can help the country tide over an acute power crisis. — Dr. Shamsul Huda
Via Email
I think that the government must publicly declare a deadline for fossil fuels, both for the industry and the market. Converting to renewable sources like wind mills, solar cookers, solar batteris, bio gas must be popularised as the agenda for future.
— Angadi reddy Via Email
I know why solar and other renewables are good. Because I have first hand experience of how bad non-renewable can be. In Jharia, where I live, a huge stretch of coal bearing land is on fire. Till date about 40 million tonnes of coal has been burnt and this has spewed a huge quantity of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The Government run Company Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL) which owns of 95 per cent of the mines here is not interested in dousing these fires. It has adopted the open-case method of mining which not only degrades land but gives rise to a perennial demand for further taking over of land. The fires are deliberately kept burning so that more and more land becomes endangered and by compulsion has to be evacuated so that the BCCL can grab it. — Ashok Agarwal
Dipal C. Barua, Bangladesh
Grameen Shakti.
Managing Director
Grameen Bank
Deputy Managing Director,
How much of Bangladesh is now ‘Solar-Powered’?
The number of Solar Home Systems (SHS) we plan to install this year will equal the total number of systems set up in the last 19 years! We already have 2,50,000 SHS and the current rate of installation has reached 10,000 systems per month.
Which areas are you concentrating upon?
Our first priority remains reaching people in off –grid rural areas. 80 per cent of rural people have no access to grid and electricity and rest, too, have frequent power failure. This has created huge demand for SHS. Our experience shows that most of the rural clients whose areas later got connected to the grid electricity, did not give up their solar home systems. This year, we have started installing SHS in urban areas too. Recently we installed Solar Panels on a posh, restaurant. We are also planning to set up solars in the Central Bank of Bangladesh.
How has your experience with the people been?
We have to train our human resource, which is a very time consuming process. Also to be serving rural communities needs, one requires special types of managers who have both technical and social skills. We have to account for drop-outs too while planning expansion.
What can run on electricity generated by SHS?
Most rural people use a SHS to power lights, televisions, mobile phones, small electronic equipment such as DC operated small fans. Larger SHS can run computers, refrigerators and irrigation pumps. We have installed big SHS in schools, offices and clinics to run computers and refrigerators.
We will also start soon start a pilot project to operate solar powered irrigation pumps. For running power pumps mostly people use diesel based generators, or grid electricity if it is available.
Is the scheme garnering enough support?
Yes. The Central Bank has already committed a Tk 2000 million fund for Solar Home Systems. We receive long
term soft loan from the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd a semi government organisation. But there
is no legal framework supporting renewables. For example, in Bangladesh, there is no policy framework for feed-in tariff and there is a high tariff on all imported materials. But a substantial subsidy for conventional energy
sources continues.
So next ‘sunshine zone’ will be in a city?
Yes, we have already taken steps to expand solar energy to urban areas. We have developed different financial and technical packages to meet the diverse needs of the people. We are also lobbying the Central Bank to create a special fund for consumer finance through different financial institutions.
How has the journey been so far?
We started our program in 1996, by targetting remote areas such as off shore islands and coastal zones with SHS. This has been very successful. We currently cover all islands in Bangladesh. We targetted remote areas because I felt it was my moral responsibility to bring these disadvantaged people out of darkness, and improve their lives.
The government should have taken steps much earlier. I had installed solar water heater without any subsidy or even soft loan about 15 yrs back. But better late than never.
I think that the government must publicly declare a deadline for fossil fuels, both for the industry and the market. Converting to renewable sources like wind mills, solar cookers, solar batteris, bio gas must be popularised as the agenda for future.
stretch of coal bearing land is on fire. Till date about 40 million tonnes of coal has been burnt and this has spewed a huge quantity of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The Government run Company Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL) which owns of 95 per cent of the mines here is not interested in dousing these fires. It has adopted the open-case method of mining which not only degrades land but gives rise to a perennial demand for further taking over of land. The fires are deliberately kept burning so that more and more land becomes endangered and by compulsion has to be evacuated so that the BCCL can grab it. 
We have to train our human resource, which is a very time consuming process. Also to be serving rural communities needs, one requires special types of managers who have both technical and social skills. We have to account for drop-outs too while planning expansion.
Yes. The Central Bank has already committed a Tk 2000 million fund for Solar Home Systems. We receive long
term soft loan from the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd a semi government organisation. But there
is no legal framework supporting renewables. For example, in Bangladesh, there is no policy framework for feed-in tariff and there is a high tariff on all imported materials. But a substantial subsidy for conventional energy
sources continues. 